One thing I truly miss from my life in America is driving. I miss owning a car and hopping in whenever I wanted to get out of the house. Whether it was running to the supermarket or going the distance for a countryside escape, that freedom of the open road and a long, Texas highway is something special. The trains in Germany offer so many options to getaway, but it's always a longer journey by train and bus to the road less traveled.
When Shayla spontaneously decided on a trip to Germany, I knew we needed to spend a couple days exploring by car. Shayla wanted to see parts of Germany outside of Munich, Berlin, and other tourist spots - the spots she wold not end up on her own. Karlsruhe lies between two fantastic regions: the Rhine Valley and the Black Forest, so that was not going to be a problem. To get even further away from tourist spots, we decided against the Rhine Valley and shifted a little further west to the Moselle Valley. The Moselle Valley is not only German (although we stuck to that part), but also extends into France and Luxembourg.
We were based in the little town of Löf, right on the Moselle River. Since February is mega-offseason in this region, our hotel suggested we drive south to Cochem if we wanted to visit a castle. So south we drove, and up we hiked to the Reichsburg Cochem, only to find it also closed (just one of those moments). The hike up with our already sore legs was still validated by the fantastic views of the town. Fortunately, the rest of the town was open for business. We wandered through the old streets, engaging in wine tastings and even a mustard tasting! I seriously love me some mustard, and the curry and Kölsch beer mustards were pretty fantastic, but in the end I took home the classic recipe.
After enjoying everything Cochem had to offer, we continued driving further south along the river. Steep vineyards, the steepest in Germany in fact, lined the roads and it was spectacular imagining how much more beautiful this already breathtaking region must be in the summer months. The homes of family-owned winegrowers lined the roads and we made one last stop for some wine. We rang the doorbell of a large, brick home and the wife of the winegrower came down and let of sample a variety from their collection. She explained that this region is so famous for its Rieslings because Riesling grapes grow best on very steep hills, like the ones in these valleys. I ended up taking home a couple dry rieslings and even a sweet white dessert wine. I normally steer clear of dessert wines, but this one was truly something special. The day only got better with a dinner that hit the spot and rewarded all of our walking.
our cute little Audi A1 rental, with the surprising and confusing start-stop technology
How about those winding roads for a drive?
Reichsburg Cochem
Cochem, Germany
wine tasting room
schnapps galore!
old mustard mill (Senfmühle)
a local wine producer's home
another wine tasting room
Burg Thurant
Do you like Rieslings?
I was never a Riesling-drinker before moving to Germany. I always thought of Riesling as a very sweet wine, but actually the dry (trocken) Rieslings have easily scooted into my number 1 wine slot. Chardonnays taste so austere to me lately.
27 comments
Omg, beautiful!!!
ReplyDeletebeautiful pictures! i'm not a huge fan of Rieslings, they are typically too sweet.. but I can't say I've ever had a dry kind!
ReplyDeleteYou really are a wine expert now. :) I have been to Cochem too but I have never been to a mustard testing. That sounds great!
ReplyDeleteRieslings have always been a joke in our family - my grandfather, "Daddy Clark," loved them, but nobody else is a fan of sweet wines. Without fail, every time we went out to eat with my grandparents, Daddy Clark would order a bottle of Riesling for the table, and a collective groan would overcome us. I don't think I've had a Riesling in the eight years since he passed away, but my dad and I always jokingly suggest getting a bottle in Daddy Clark's honor. Maybe I should give Rieslings another chance and try a dry variety!
ReplyDeleteI miss driving so much as well! Public transportation doesn't give the same freedom.
ReplyDeleteOh man I bet you miss driving, especially in Texas- we do it everywhere! I do like riesling but only on occasion. and now I want some.
ReplyDeleteI miss driving tooooooooo!!!! I think that the independence and adventure of driving off spontaneously is what I miss most being here.
ReplyDeleteOhhhh driving! Seriously what I think I miss most! (And no, not a Riesling fan. Sorry.)
ReplyDeleteWow! That is gorgeous and so cool to see! Also that car looks so cool!
ReplyDeleteThat's because I've heard the Germans keep all the best riesling in Germany! I've had some wonderful wine there, but it's hard to find good German wine in the uk. Lovely scenery again.
ReplyDeleteOh wow what an incredible experience!!!
ReplyDeleteCars have definitely allowed me to see so many cool places - we drove all around Romania, and having a car now means I can jet off to other places in Spain.
ReplyDeletethe scene is breathtaking ^^
ReplyDeletethe wine tasting room is special, looks like in a cave
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what a gorgeous city! the view is amazing. i need to go there.
ReplyDeleteI love and totally agree with this theory!
ReplyDeleteAnd this time I still had to be the passenger since I've been in Germany too long with my US license to drive :(
ReplyDeleteIn Germany, everyone thinks driving 2 hours is a big deal. In Texas, that's like a day trip :)
ReplyDeleteHow do you get to these other cities in Iceland? Does H have a car? Public Transit is great but yep, I so so so miss doing things on my own terms!
ReplyDeleteGermany and mustard have become an association for me - I just love the mustard variety here!
ReplyDeleteLove that story, Kelley! Definitely give a dry Riesling a try - life changing :)
ReplyDeleteH's mom has a car so we get to borrow hers when we need it. I was surprised at how few people have cars here actually!
ReplyDeleteRiesling is actually the first wine I ever drank, it was the only one I could get down because it was so sweet! Then I moved to white zin, then white, and now I am totally a red wine drinker (this only happened over the past 4 months or so!) ... I loved these pics b/c when I was in Germany we went into a wine tasting room like the ones you posted and it was so cool!!!
ReplyDeleteThis looks seriously awesome!
ReplyDeleteAww, this takes me back to my Germany trip last fall! We stayed in Ellenz, about 10 min south of Cochem. So much good wine (we also are not usually Riesling drinkers but gladly consumed plenty of it!) and delicious food and cute little villages. If you get back to the area, you should hike up to Burg Eltz - definitely my favorite of the German castles we visited!
ReplyDeleteWe were SO close to Burg Eltz... kept seeing a million signs on a trip to the supermarket, but somehow did not make it. I guess I'm regretting it now as it was around sunset so I'm sure it would have looked stunning!
ReplyDeleteI do like Rieslings, actually, and I'm not even much of a wine drinker.
ReplyDeleteWhat did you mean by "confusing start-stop technology" ?
We rented an automatic car, but then the car would turn off when we were stopped at lights and such and we thought we were stalling, but then realized that is obviously not what was happening, until we made the start-stop technology connection. We were start-stop first timers.
ReplyDelete